


The Dead Must Stay Dead

by heyitsraichan



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Aborted Undertale Genocide Run, Gen, Post-Undertale Pacifist Route, Undertale Genocide Route, geeettttttt dunked on!!! (Undertale), the dead stay dead
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-11
Updated: 2020-11-07
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:26:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,992
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26940616
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heyitsraichan/pseuds/heyitsraichan
Summary: The resets broke Frisk's mind and it is up to Sans to pick up the pieces for his people.Updates Weekly.
Relationships: Alphys & Sans (Undertale), Alphys & Undyne (Undertale), Alphys/Sans (Undertale), Alphys/Undyne (Undertale), Frisk & Sans (Undertale), Frisk/Sans (Undertale)
Kudos: 28





	1. Bones and Betrayal

“you betrayed me, frisk. you betrayed everyone.”

They said nothing. They kept that unmerciful glare on their face.

“i really…really, thought that we could be friends, frisk. it seems i was wrong about you.”

Still, they were silent, but their smile turned into a grin. _they’ll come back to their senses any minute now_ , he tried to convince himself. Frisk’s current actions aren’t doing any good to help him validate his thoughts though. Sans was about to talk, to buy some time, trying to buy Frisk some time to _stop being insane_ but they started to attack. He dodged just by a hair.

Well, if he had hair that is. Heh. But enough jokes! The things that are happening to him at the moment aren’t funny. It seems to him like they were doing this on purpose. It seems to him, right now, that they were hell bent on killing everyone, including him.

“just when i thought you were going to prove to me that i was wrong about the world.”

_just when i thought there was hope._

As he was dodging their attacks, he says, “you are sooo going to have a bad time… welp. sorry, old lady. this is why i never make promises.”

Sans began attacking relentlessly, bone projectiles never stopped moving and chasing Frisk around. Frisk had a counter for all of Sans’ moves, even his blasters were anticipated and dodged. It was as if they had practiced every attack. Had they gone through this timeline before? Was there a reset just like this that they had already experienced? They probably had done this hundreds of times now, judging by the look of frustration plastered on their face.

 _that explains the readings of timelines winding and unwinding._ Sans felt defeated and lost as his mind lingered at this single, awful thought.

His ever-calculating brain was out of options on how to end this fight. He resorts to using underhanded methods. Frisk was still receiving minimal damage. He no longer had bright ideas on how to handle this situation, but retained some rationality that this can not go on forever. However, it can not be denied that he was getting exhausted. His magic reserves are depleting fast. w _ell, shit._ It doesn’t help knowing that there isn’t any hope left, either. His HP was back to 1 since Frisk killed Papyrus. Papyrus, his light, a beacon of hope… It sucked the determination out of him. The thought of killing Frisk for what they did…for killing his brother…it did cross his mind but…he doubted he could do it. They were human; they had a powerful soul compared to his, that had one, measly, HP. All he could hope for now was that, he had bought the monsters of the underground more time to say goodbye to their loved ones. Something he did not have with his brother. Also, a swift and painless death would be nice, as well.

Poor, pure, innocent Frisk, hands full of the dust of fallen friends and family. He will die there and then, by Frisk’s hand, he was sure of it. Thinking about them in that light caused an uneasy feeling in Sans’ gut. He tried to remember the memories of Frisk from before this RESET--the moments that never happened in this iteration--that his mind could grab before they disappeared into the void forever. The puzzle-loving Frisk, pun-making Frisk, the Frisk who befriended him and his brother, the Frisk he knew and loved…

In one last ditch attempt, he said, “c’mon, buddy. do you remember me? please, if you’re listening… let’s forget all of this, ok? just lay down your weapon, and… well, my job will be a lot easier.”

Surprisingly, Frisk lowered their weapon.

He sighed, partly in relief, mostly just to catch his breath. “...you’re sparing me? why?”

This was the first time he heard their voice in this RESET, and they said, “I just need to know what happens, what’s at the end of this…I need something new to happen…something different…”

_…And in that moment…_

“buddy. pal. i know it must be hard to make that choice, with the risk you’ll go back on everything you’ve worked up to. i want you to know, i won’t let it go to waste. something new will happen.”

_…he knew…_

“c’mere, pal,” he walked closer, arms wide open and pulled them into him.

Frisk’s eyes widened, the most expression they have shown in this iteration. They were eager to return the hug. “I’m--”

_…he had to kill them…_

“get dunked on!” He plunged a sharp, jagged bone on their back, the sharp edge poked out of Frisk’s chest. The bone pierced their body right through. All the red on his white inner shirt reminded Sans of paint splattered on canvas. What once was a happy association in Sans’ mind was tainted by this moment.

“haha, geddit? ‘coz i plunged a bone right in ‘ya?”

The knife they held slid off of their grasp, and made a clattering noise when it hit the golden floor. “I thought…we were… friends…again…” Frisk wheezed. Their knees buckled underneath them, desperately trying to hold on to Sans for support.

“just ‘coz you could RESET, go back in time and reverse what you have done everything will be okay?! i think you forgot that i’ll remember the next time you RESET, and mark my words, i’ll never forgive you for what you did today! tell you what, if we’re really friends…you won’t come back.”

Realization dawned on Frisk and their face scrunched up in a frown. They scrambled to hold on to Sans. “It…was wrong…I was…wrong…this…is all wrong…something’s supposed to happen differently…to stop…the cycle…”

“this is as different of an outcome as it gets, frisk,” he spat out their name…the name that will forever leave a bitter taste in his mouth. “deal with it.”

He remained stock still, letting them fall to the ground. He looked down at them as if they were the scum of the earth. A barrage of ‘I’m sorry’s escaped Frisk’s mouth in between wheezes and sobs. 

“that was for my brother…”

They stretched out their arms as far as it could go, reaching out for Sans. In their final whispers that Sans could barely hear, they said, “I’m sorry…I…ruined our…happy ending…”

The glow of Frisk’s red, incredibly determined soul faded, and that was that.

Sans honestly did not know how much time passed. He just stared at their crumpled up body, expecting them to get back up again, but…they were not moving, and a river of red formed from their wound, flowing onto the gold tiles of the corridor. As reality sank in, his knees buckled in physical and emotional exhaustion.

He lost a lot more than magic energy today. He lost Papyrus, his sweet brother, who only saw the good in people. He lost Frisk. They might be the reason for a lot of death and destruction, but he couldn’t help but feel that he lost them, too. They were not the only one at fault; his inaction contributed to this. He collected Frisk’s lifeless body in his arms. They were so small, so fragile in this state. The tear stains were still fresh on their cheeks. They looked more like the Frisk he knew from his memories of events that never happened. He held on to them tight.

He slowly got up off the floor, carrying Frisk with him, pulling them closer to his chest. He walked right into a shortcut through waterfall, leading to the garbage dump.

Everyone he knew lost someone today. He began to cry. For everyone left behind in the aftermath of the storm named Frisk. For the monsters who had fallen by their hands. For Frisk themselves. For Papyrus. For himself. His shoulders heaved as he poured every fiber of his being into crying, sobbing, howling in grief… just one more moment of weakness, before he shows his face to the rest of monsterkind. If he was allowed this, he swore that he would turn things around, and no longer watch from the sidelines. He _will_ act, whether it was needed or not. He vowed to no longer be a spectator in his own life. He wondered, what if he had done something to stop Frisk from killing Papyrus? Would that have changed anything?--

He shook his head, willing the thoughts away. No, these should no longer be relevant questions to him. He had to live with his choices. _but could i really?_ He asked himself.

The howls turned into sobs, and sobs into sniffles. He was spent now, all the grief that he had to pour out left him. He was pretty sure there was more that was left, but that was it for him today. He felt numb from all this crying.

He looked at Frisk, as he stretched his arms out into the void, and dropped their body in it, to be one with all the lost items that fell down below. He waited a few minutes, expecting the thud of Frisk’s body hitting the end of the hole. The sound didn’t come, he could only hear the steady, hissing flow of water instead. He sat near the edge, letting the water flow through his garments and his hollow, skeletal body, washing away the red stains that Frisk left behind.

“if you’re not planning on coming back, i guess, this really is goodbye, huh?”


	2. With a Heavy Heart

Leaden bones leaned on the walls, dragged by it’s owner to the next destination, body running on fumes… Sans really hated how it felt to give it his all. It’s even hard to be lazy and just shortcut his way into anywhere. The surreal, conflicting experience of his body being so heavy that he feels like he’s floating, is so disorienting, it’s not helping him feel better in the slightest. It was a bad idea to even go to Waterfall but…he’d rather have his breakdown there than anywhere else. He’d rather the rest of monsterkind not see Frisk, all mangled and bloody. He’d rather Frisk rested there… He’d rather make sure that they would never come back. Although, dropping the body in a bottomless pit could be undone by their ability to RESET did worry him a bit.

There was some difficulty in walking on areas with no walls to lean on. It was a slow crawl; well, not literally, but slowing down made him gain a small bit of his strength back, just enough to make him finally reach his sentry station in Hotland. He sat down slowly, and reached for a hotdog and a bottle of ketchup under the counter. He squeezed the bottle, drenching the hotdog full of ketchup. Taking a bite out of the hotdog bun that was mostly condiment made him feel energized. He downed in one huge gulp the rest of the ketchup, straight from the bottle. After finishing the hotdog and the ketchup, he checked if he got back enough magic energy to shortcut by trying it out in short distances. At least he reached the door of Alphys’ lab after three tries. _decent enough i guess_ , he thought.

He knocked on Alphys’ lab door, rapping frantically at it, when he didn’t hear any movement from the other side. After a few more tries he finally said, “fuck it, fuck politeness, imma shortcut in…”

Once inside, he noticed that it was dark, but he could feel pieces of paper scattered all over the floor, making sliding and crumpling noises underneath his shoes. The tower of documents he remembered existing in this room was probably toppled over. Everything was turned off; the lights, the computers, the screen monitoring the entire underground… Sans couldn’t even hear the hum of the refrigerator.

Where were they? _Looking for them is gonna be a bother_ , he thought. The lab was huge, as far as he can remember. There will be a lot of hiding places. He just hoped everyone will be huddled in one place. More than that, he hoped no one else got hurt. He used the elevator up to Alphys’ bedroom, nada, no one there. So they must be down in the labs. He went down using the elevator to where she conducted her experiments. She also housed some of her participants for the experiments in there.

Once he was down, he got proven wrong. It was easy to locate the refugees, he just had to follow the sound of chatter and sobs. They were in the ward, beds filled the room with only a foot apart from each other. Monsters either sat or laid in them. Sans observed them doing a variety of things: pacing around the room, talking to their neighbors with a severe expression, or just staring into space. Everyone stopped what they were doing to turn and look at a drenched and exhausted Sans.

Alphys was the one who spoke first, “I-is it over?”

Sans nodded.


	3. The Second Reset

“hey, kid…” Sans called out to them. They were on the surface again. Frisk was not telling the monsters something, but Sans knew what it was. “we’ve been here before, haven’t we?”

Frisk fiddled with the seams of their sweater. They were sweating, not because of the warm weather in the surface but because…they didn’t know how to lie to Sans. He seemed to know everything they’ve been up to. “I－I should come clean… I reset the timeline. I’m sorry.”

“you. what?” The white glow inside Sans’ eye sockets went out. Frisk knew that if he had that expression, he was mad and that he was just trying to be calm about it. But what can they do? “why?” He asked.

“I…didn’t have a choice.”

Sans’ left eye glowed blue. Frisk has never seen Sans this angry before, and they were terrified and did not know what to do. They took a few steps back.

“you have a choice, kiddo. you, an anomaly, were resetting, going back and forth timelines, destroying them if you wish, and now you’re telling me that you… did. not. have. a choice?”

Frisk’s tears were streaming out of their eyes, they were repressing their sobs with their hands.

“are you just playing with us? taking us for fools? breaking the barrier, opening the path to a new world, then reset after a year, rendering all our work…my brother’s hard work, useless?”

Their sobs broke out as they tried to make words come out of their mouth. “It’s not like I wanted to…! I just…just don’t want to…” They can’t say it. They were afraid to say it because it just might come true.

“what? to what?”

“…in exchange for…in exchange for this timeline continuing, I…I need to…it requires me to give up my existence…w-which means I－”

“you disappear, without a trace.” Sans understood now. Frisk was just a kid and, like almost all kids, was afraid to die. Though, he just can’t help but blame the kid.

“you selfish brat! thinking only about yourself…”

Frisk was taken aback. So that’s how Sans saw them? An anomaly? A selfish person? For the first time they were in the Underground, they got angry. “Me?! Selfish?! I try to do everything I know that is right! You said so! I opened the barrier, I try to save everyone from the humans who discriminated monsters since we got out, what more do you want from me, Sans? I can only do so much! You don’t know how it feels! How it feels to have this! You don’t know how I felt…how dark it was to be stuck in there…and I’m supposed to stay there…forever?” They punched Sans’ ribcage repeatedly, until they got exhausted and fell on their knees. Sans let them do it, for some reason. He did not defend himself in any way, their punches were too weak to really affect him. “It was so lonely in there…”

“look, would you please stop crying? i’m going to pretend i know nothing of this…but you need to promise me you’ll never reset, again.”

“I-I’ll try, Sans…” They wiped their tears with their sleeves.

“no, you _will_ never reset again. ugh, this is why i hate promises.”

They lowered their head and continued their crying. He rolled his eyes－well, he doesn’t have eyes, but he does have some kind of white glow inside his eye sockets that make up for the lack of it.

“B-but…I can’t control it sometimes! W-when someone kills me…I-I…” They bawled.

“no no noooo…frisk, stop crying! i’ll stop being mad at you if you just stop crying…”

They sniffled and looked up at Sans. Sans thought they looked…cute, but at the same time, pitiful. Their eyes were raw and red from rubbing too much and their crying. Their nose was also red. It had snot and mucus coming out of it…typical things that happen to a kid when they cry a lot. Except Papyrus, and by extension, himself, because they didn’t have a nose, nor a pair of eyes. All Papyrus and himself had were a pair of eye sockets and a nasal cavity. He remembered fondly how Papyrus looked when he was still a baby bones. When Papyrus cried, he did look pitiful, so pitiful that you just want to protect them, much like how Frisk looked right now. He couldn’t help but feel sorry for them. They may be a time-traveler, but they’re still a kid.

“come on, wipe your tears…” He took his clean handkerchief and wiped Frisk’s tears and mucus with it. He gently took their hand in his. “let’s get you home.”

He decided to walk them back to Toriel’s place. Sometimes walking was good; it could give him time to think about things before going home. The silence stretched so long, it made Frisk uncomfortable. So, they decided to ask Sans, “Are you no longer mad at me?”

“i told you, if you stopped crying, i’d stop being mad at you, right? i’ll tolerate you resetting and stuff, but that doesn’t mean i’m okay with it.”

Frisk smiled. There are still tear-stains on their face. “At least you’re no longer mad at me.”

He kneels down and wipes off the rest of their tears. “again, i’ll tolerate it. it does not mean i approve of it, do you understand me? i’d prefer it if you no longer reset.”

Frisk nodded vigorously.

“and don’t do anything stupid that might hurt anyone.”

Frisk nodded again.

They walked the rest of the way, still hand in hand.


	4. The Final Straw

****The Seventh Reset** **

“I am actually still afraid,” they said when his brother was out of earshot.

“afraid of what?”

“Of dying. But it eventually happens to any of us, right?”

He nodded, not looking at his companion, but at the sunset in front of them.

“No matter how many times I’ve been face-to-face with it, I just can’t imagine myself being gone from this world just yet… maybe that’s why I managed to have this power to reset. Maybe that’s why I overpowered Flowey’s power to reset. If only I can stay for much longer…if only I can break this loop, ya’know?

“There is so much I want to do…so much I want to learn…so many people to help, to love…ever since I came here, I’ve learned that there’s hope, that there can be good. I want to preserve it.

“Is there something I’m missing? Something that I haven’t done right in order to not reset again? I always wonder…I don’t want to keep doing this forever, believe me. I want things to change, Sans. I…” They finally looked at him, and he faced them. They see only white glowing lights inside their eye sockets, but they were full of concern and understanding. All those feelings are for them at the moment, and it made them happy. “I want to stay here, with you guys, forever if possible.”

He put his bony hand on their shoulder and squeezed it reassuringly.

“we’ll get there, kid. i’ll help you in any way i can.”

“HEY SANS! FRISK! TORIEL SAID EVERYONE COULD STAY FOR DINNER!” They were celebrating their one year on the surface world.

“that means trouble if you’re not into snail soup. ah, welp, we should stay anyway.” Sans stood up and offered a hand to help Frisk up. They took it. “wouldn’t want to offend the queen.”

He goes on ahead to take one of his shortcuts. Frisk grinned and couldn’t help but notice that Sans’ smile was larger than usual.

Everything went dark suddenly.

 _Riiiight…I forgot about this part…here we go again,_ thought Frisk.

They were back in this darkness again. Never-ending darkness, left and right. It perplexes Frisk how they are upright in this vast nothingness. Is this supposed to be a floor that they’re standing on right now? Did they conjure the floor they are standing on? Can they really do that or is it just a part of this place? This place is really confusing…the ‘in-between’ as they－Frisk and Sans－ call it. The rectangular button, with the text ‘GO BACK’ glowed red, just as how Frisk remembers it being. Beside it was another rectangular button, with the text ‘GIVE UP’ glowing white.

Without thinking anymore, they walk up to the red text with renewed vigor. They were tired of waiting passively for something, _anything,_ to change. Maybe it was time to take action, and have a little bit of fun in the process.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Halloween readers! thank you to those who are still following for weekly updates. comment if you have suggestions and feedback, they are greatly welcome and appreciated. <3 
> 
> i would like to shamelessly plug my IG: @_peppermintartph, because it's easier to message me there. i will also be joining NANOWRIMO this year, and there will be updates on IG if you are interested in reading my original works. i also have a wattpad account: @_heyitsraichan, i have posted some original works there recently, and i just might post there the novel i'm working on after November.
> 
> again, thanks for reading. i'll see you all at the next update.


	5. The Eight Reset

They came out of the RUINS. Sans has been waiting for them to be out of there all day. It’s been two resets ago when he started to do that. He feels like a kid waiting impatiently and excitedly for his Christmas gift since he woke up. Except it’s Frisk, not a time-travel machine, nor a lifetime supply of ketchup. For the first time in years, he’s filled with DETERMINATION. He even woke up earlier than Papyrus. It’s just too bad that they all can’t get out of this loop, but this is as good as it can get! _Optimism feels nice,_ he thought. He can’t be mad at Frisk forever. This was not their fault, they did not choose this. Well, technically, they said they chose to reset rather than disappear. Their existence would be erased from thereon if they ever choose not to reset. They said they’d be stuck in some kind of limbo. He wouldn’t miss them, but if they did disappear, Toriel would be devastated to discover them gone. Papyrus and Undyne would lose a best friend. Alphys would never have another willing guinea pig… He was just making excuses. One technique of successful lying is to distance yourself in both words and actions from the truth. And Sans knew it well. He’s prone to using it frequently lately because he can’t actually imagine life without the kid from here on out. Now he’s doing none of those silly, “believable” lies. He’s going to be true to himself. He’s going to go out there and _be_ himself. Tell Frisk the truth that he…! Is he dreaming that Frisk has acquired a lighter skin tone, or is that dust on their hands?

“human…don’t you know how to greet a new friend?”

Frisk turned around before he could even tell them to and shook Sans’ hand. The act made the whoopee cushion produce the hilarious, fart-like sound, but they didn’t laugh. Sans could feel the grainy texture of dust from their hand. _maybe they encountered a little bit of trouble along the way? they had to do it maybe? out of self-defense?_ Sans had a hunch that those were the wrong answers, but he chose to lie to himself anyway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heyyyy~ we're near the end! thank you for reading this far, despite the small weekly updates. i have more to say, but i'll leave it for next week.  
> i'll share my socials here.  
> IG: @_peppermintartph  
> FB: Peppermint Art Ph  
> Wattpad: @_heyitsraichan


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